Repost: Lost Classics! The Flying Burrito Brothers

In 1968 Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman managed to transform the Byrds into a country rock band for the landmark Sweetheart Of The Rodeo album. Then they both left the Byrds to start the Flying Burrito Brothers, with the intention of mixing country and rock even more. The Flying Burrito Brothers’ brand of country rock proved to be one of the more influential and imitated styles of the era. However Parsons only stayed with the Burritos for two albums and by 1972 the original incarnation of the band dissolved, leaving only wannabes and pretenders to carry on the Flying Burrito Brothers name.

After recording two solo albums, founding member Gram Parsons died in 1973 from an overdose of morphine and tequila. Responding to new interest in the band A&M Records released the two-LP compilation Close Up The Honky Tonkswith one record’s worth of songs from the first two albums, 1969’s Gilded Palace of Sin and 1970’s Burrito Deluxe. The second record contained previously unreleased tracks, the first five of which were recorded during Parsons’ time with the band, while the last six were recorded after Parsons left the group and Hillman was the key player. Close Up The Honky Tonks has long been out of print, and while there are a number of Burrito CD compilations the original 1974 LP contains a handful of songs that are still unavailable on any other U.S. release to this day.

The song “Close Up The Honky Tonks” features Gram Parsons on vocals, and was recorded during his final months with the band; this does also appear on the Hot Burritos! anthology CD. ” Break My Mind” was a single also featuring Parsons on lead vocals. The rest of these songs feature Rick Roberts on lead vocals and do not appear anywhere else. The instrumental “Beat The Heat,” written by steel guitarist “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow, was one of his first and only compositions. Kleinow died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2007.